St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-05-02
FARMERS ALLIANCE WANTS.
Meeting TO zSe Held i'm the Near
Future TO Formulate u Document
for the Railway commissioners.

FIXTURE TO Formulate u Document
for the Railway COnmissioners.
.You don't know Just when the Farmers
alliance is getting in its heaviest work, !"
said Eric Olson. secretary of the state
organization, to GLOBE reporter yester-
dav. Last fall and winter we made quite
a noise and got IN the papers good deal,
and what we wanted we didn't seem to
get. But we are not all asleep yet, and
some day we may be heard from again.
We shall hold meeting of the state
organization in about two weeks, and then
we shall probably formulate document to
be laid before the railroad commissioners. ."
''Will you make any specific requests of
the commissioner
II think we SHALL" said Mr.. Olson. 81
think we shall ask that they carry out the
provisions of the Williams bill, which Sen
alto" Hall, the chairman of the committee,
smothered. This action, | think, was a
part of the plan to shut out the farmers
from getting what they wanted from the
legislature. Of course. they had it an
ranged that the two houses and their COM
mittees should work a sort of criss-cross
game to defeat legislation"
The alliance is rather inclined to punch
up Il6 CUIIlLllooLou VII oOhSAoi poiiuo, 10 ~
uOt?"
Yes, rather. In the report of the
special committee two or three chances
were taken to make suggestions, and
we sent them the circular showing
what would have been the effect
if the Williams bill had passed. But we
will tell them what we want when the Off
GERS meet about the middle of this month"; -
Mr. Olson is i'll receipt of letter from a
vrominent member of the alliance, in which
the writer says:
If you continue to whack at the railroad
and warehouse commission as you have COM
menced, we shall have to institute proceed
ings against you tor cruelty 10 animals. Why
cannot you let the dear old fellows alone?
They were not appointed and placed where
they are to stand as targets for your arrows.
Like other servants they must necessarily
serve their masters. Then why not let them
alone? The question with them is not how
..nuch'' they can do for the people, but how
iittle Look at the interest they represent
44344SS miles of railroad, worth, as per their
own report Sl5S, 52l, 1887 OF course, $780,
S25lIS 81 is fictitious capital, but it would be
unreasonable and ungentlemanly of you to
ask or expect the commissioners to prevent
the railroad corporations from robbing the
people OF this state of S7,740,256.52 per an
NUN. as they now do.
One ex-governor and two would-be gov
er1CrS. NO IMAM lFlenuly I'D tue people ever
became Il governor of this ate. In other
words. if man wants to be governor he
must not interfere with ''vested rights"-i. G..
rights 10 steal by railroads and other greedy
corporations. Again, say, let the commits
sioners alone, and never say another bad
word about them. They are simply doing
their duty according to the programme
mapped out by their masters.
To this MI. Olson replies in the Labor
Echo, i'll the department of which he has
charge, in the following words:
The commissioners are gentlemen. They
Are above suspicion. it is preposterous Il
assume that the talk of railway manager.
can influence them. They are simply stunned
over the wisdom in railway science to fl
rates for long and short hauls. Like pruden
men, when they do not know what to do they
do nothing. Judicial minds must not act OF
the spur of the moment. They must deliber
ate, and for every week they do deliberate
the railroads in this state collect SIZE, 600 tot
much from the country stations.